Microsoft Updates Cortana to Show Detailed Stock Profiles

Microsoft has updated its voice-based virtual assistant Cortana to include detailed stock profiles, with prices, charts, and other information.

According to WMPoweruser, the updated Cortana assistant, instead of just showing the stock price rise or fall, will also track changes in prices over a period of time, displaying the change stock prices in a graph (see above), something Google Now and Siri already do.

Previously, Marcus Ash, Windows Phone Group Program Manager had at the end of June announced that Microsoft has updated Cortana to include Fifa World Cup 2014 predications. Now with the new update, the company appears to be keeping its promise of a bi-monthly update cycle for Cortana.

(Also see: Microsoft's Cortana vs. Apple's Siri vs. Google Now)

Cortana, Microsoft's answer to Apple Siri and Google Now, was announced at the company's Build conference in April. The voice-based virtual assistant is powered by Bing. While Cortana is currently available in the US in beta mode, Marcus Ash, have already suggested that Microsoft is all set to roll-out Cortana to Windows Phone 8.1 devices in China and the UK within weeks, not months.

Cortana can be launched by pressing the Live Tile placed on the Start screen or by pressing the Search button on a Windows Phone 8.1 device. Last month, Microsoft had also updated Skype (version 2.19) for Windows Phone 8.1 devices to add support for Cortana.

Also speaking at the SMX Advanced conference in Seattle, Ash said that the Redmond giant also considering the expansion of Cortana to other platforms like Android and iOS, apart from other form factors, like desktops, vehicles, and kiosks.